D&AD Awards 2016: India adds a total of 11 Pencils to its kitty

The mood in London has been celebratory for both the gentry as well as the ad-fraternity. While the former were celebrating Queen Elizabeth’s 90th birthday, the ad-folks were awaiting for the final announcement of the 54th edition of the D&AD awards.

A total of 749 Pencils were given away across 27 different categories. India closed its account with a total pick of 11 Pencils, which is a dip from last year’s performance. In 2015, 19 Pencils were bagged by Indian agencies. Two out of the 11 Pencils won by India this year are White Pencils. The outcome of these Pencils making it to Wood, Graphite, Yellow or the most coveted Black would be revealed only in mid-May at a ceremony in London. Overall this year, India stood at 15th rank on the global ranking list.

The final list of the Indian winners include: Four Pencils for BBDO India, Three for Ogilvy India, One each for McCann Worldgroup, Studio Eeksaurus, Sister Concern Design Studio and Gujarat Ambuja, which was the only client winning for the country.

BBDO India’s ‘Share the Load’ campaign for Ariel won in Outdoor, Integrated & Innovative Media and in the Creativity for Good (White Pencil) categories . The agency also grabbed a Pencil for Whisper’s ‘Touch The Pickle’ campaign in the Integrated & Innovative Media category.

Ogilvy India’s PSA ‘Beauty Tips by Reshma’ for Make Love Not Scars won a Pencil in the Digital Marketing category. The work also picked a White Pencil. The agency was also awarded a Pencil for the #GodSaveTheOcean campaign done for Sprouts Environment Trust. Studio Eeksaurus Production’s work for Rajasthan Tourism won a Pencil in the Film Advertising Crafts.

McCann WorldGroup won its solo Pencil for Dabur Babol in the Crafts for Advertising category. Interestingly, McCann holds the sole distinction of winning the Yellow Pencil from India, for its work done for brand Big Babol in 2015.

The Mumbai-based design firm, Sisterconcern Design Studio, started by the Malegaonkar sisters also won a Pencil in the Graphic Design category.

Gujarat Ambuja won a Pencil for innovative casting of Great Khali in the Film Advertising Crafts category. The campaign was conceptualised by Publicis’ Bobby Pawar and team.

An elated Piyush Pandey, executive chairman and creative director, Ogilvy South Asia, speaking from India, shared his happiness on winning the White Pencil. Along with the client and the agency team (led by Kainaz Karmakar and Harshad Rajadhyaksha), he also wanted to congratulate brave Reshma who came out for the cause. He was also happy about the fact that his agency won a Pencil in the Craft Category for Rajasthan Tourism’s campaign. “This campaign is very close to my heart as it is for the first time that we have done a tourism campaign for my home state,” he added.

Grey London, once again, topped the chat at the D&AD Awards. ​When asked about the agency’s winning formula, Nils Leonard, chairman and chief creative officer, Grey London, said, “We are chasing something larger than advertising. We are chasing a cultural impact and when we get it right it all falls in place.” He confessed to be fascinated with India’s burgeoning mobile culture and shared that if he was living in India he would want to launch a leading global mobile consulting company.

Most creative representatives who Brand Equity spoke at the festival felt that, in a world that is growing increasing connected and impacted by various issues, the White Pencil category is indeed going to be growing in prominence. “This is why purpose-driven brands are succeeding," said Mark Tutssel, global chief creative officer, Leo Burnett Worldwide and creative chairman of Publicis Communications.

Talking about the overall entries for this future-facing category, he said, “Big game-changing ideas originated from many parts of the world - India, Sri Lanka, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Australia, USA, UK and Germany.” Tutssel was also the jury foreman for the Creativity for good [White Pencil] category at the D&AD awards.